I've heard some negative things about the Apple TV, but it seems like a really cool idea. I'm curious to know (from the people that have them) what they feel are the pluses and minuses of the ATV. Is it worth buying?

I had one, but sold it for another Mac mini. It just does way more without limitations.

Pluses for ATV:
Easy setup
HDMI
Decent UI
Works with all IR remotes

Minuses for ATV:
Tied to iTunes
Limited internal and no external storage
No support for extra codecs
No support for Video_TS
Runs all the time
Runs extremely warm and needs plenty of ventilation
Slow transfers to and from Mac over wireless
No gigabit ethernet

I would only buy one if you're interested in running Boxee or ATVFlash on it. You'll probably come away disappointed otherwise. It's also sort of due for a refresh. I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple come out with a new one before the end of the year.

^ you can probably hack it to do anything, I think the poster above you was stating the pro's/con's un-hacked...

I was indeed talking about using the Apple TV unhacked. ATVFlash does overcome some of those minuses if hacking doesn't bother you. You can also use PatchStick for that matter.

You don't need to pay anything to patch it. It takes all of 15 minutes to get it to run anything except HD content encoded above the main H.264 profile. External USB support, xvid, dvix, etc...can all be installed via point and click.

I've owned one for over 2 years and, given Apple's regular updates/upgrades to it, I have become increasingly appreciative of this little device over time. Think of Apple TV as an appliance for your home entertainment center.

It has many charms in this role, especially in comparison to a general purpose device like the Mac mini:

much cheaper

completely silent

very compact--can be placed almost anywhere with minimal ventilation requirements

OTOH, if pr0n and pirating is your thing, then you'll have to look at a less capable device or a more expensive one like the Mac mini.

Not into piracy. I pride myself on only having legal copies of music, movies, and software. Especially for third-party Mac software: if we don't support the developers, they have no incentive to keep making great software for the Mac.

Thanks for your review, this was the kind of information I was hoping to get. Even better that you've used it for a while and lived through upgrades. Gives your opinion some weight.

All my music and video is in one small box in my entertainment center. No bookshelves bulging with hundreds of DVD & CD cases collecting dust. I just copy my music & transcode my DVDs using Handbrake then put it all into itunes. I copy my music onto the TV HD and stream my movies using AEBS N 5GHZ. (And I back everything up on 2 external HDs). The DVDs & CDs go into a box in the closet. No more mess in the living room!_________________Early 2009 Mini 2GHZ 320 GB HD 2 GB DDR3 Mem
wireless Mac KB
wireless Logitech V550 mouse
2 WD My Studio ExtHD
AEBS N

All my music and video is in one small box in my entertainment center. No bookshelves bulging with hundreds of DVD & CD cases collecting dust. I just copy my music & transcode my DVDs using Handbrake then put it all into itunes. I copy my music onto the TV HD and stream my movies using AEBS N 5GHZ. (And I back everything up on 2 external HDs). The DVDs & CDs go into a box in the closet. No more mess in the living room!

Thanks for the info, Kevin. It looks like I'm headed down that same path, as I've been ripping all my DVD's and putting them in iTunes also. Makes me feel stupid for buying a DVD player!

I've had mine for nearly 2 years and love it to bits. It used to be VERY slow, clunky and unreliable, but recent updates have really improved things. I rely on it for all vids etc and rip to my mini and sync with no real speed problems across my old wireless network.

The only thing I'd recommend is buying the largest HD capacity you can afford as this reduces the amount of streaming you will have to do.

An ATV and a mini is a beautiful team._________________Loving my mini's, hating what Apple has become.

The only thing I'd recommend is buying the largest HD capacity you can afford as this reduces the amount of streaming you will have to do.

Apple sort of took the HD capacity question out of my hands by ditching the 40GB unit, so today I bought a 160GB TV! Had some trouble getting it going at first, until I realized the wall outlet was loose and flakey. After I solved that, the unit fired up, I entered my wifi password and the thing took off. As a matter of fact, we watched a podcast and a full movie via streaming before the unit even had time to sync with our libraries. Very nice!

Thanks for this thread, folks. You persuaded me it was worth it, and so far I agree! I'm going to enjoy watching podcasts, especially, on the "big screen."